Ivy Creek Foundation News

Spring 2016 Newsletter

A publication of the Ivy Creek Foundation, Volume 21, No. 4

Natural Area News

May 1 PLANT SALE!

Bird Walks Mar. 5, 7:30 am, First Saturday Bird Walk led by Peter Dutnell.

April 2, 7:30 am, First Saturday Bird Walk led by Stauffer Miller.

May 2, 7:30 am, First Saturday Bird Walk led by Leigh Surdukowski.

F a r m a n d B a r n History Days Saturdays, beginning April 2, 2 pm Explore the barn now until Thanksgiving.

Native Plant Society Weds., Mar. 9, 7:30 pm, Nathan Miller, a PVCC instructor in horticulture will speak.

Weds., Apr. 13, 7:30 pm, Tim McCoy, a research specialist at Virginia Tech, will give an introduction to the non-honey bee pollinators.

Ivy Talks“Our Plant Survey and Herbarium”

Sunday, March 13, 2 pm

Tana Herndon will discuss the Ivy Creek Plant Survey, which both confirms Ivy Creek’s remarkable plant diversity and records the presence of a some plants not usually found in the Piedmont. Following Tana, Tim Williams will introduce the Ivy Creek Herbarium, explaining what a herbarium is, how it is constructed, and its value as a physical record of Ivy Creek’s plant diversity.

Ivy Creek and the Next Generation

In January, just before the Great Snowstorm of 2016, my wife Audi and I walked most of the perimeter of Ivy Creek Natural Area, a hike that I had not taken in several years. Although the sky was nearly cloudless, it was a cold day with a gusty wind making it seem colder still. We traversed from the Red to the Orange Trail, then the Peninsula, and back to Orange, Green, and Red. As we walked through the mountain laurel on the peninsula, and then the silvery beech woods on the Orange and Green trails, I marveled at how some aspects of Ivy Creek have changed since I first wandered here in my early teens in the 1970s, while so much has also been

preserved and looks no different than it did then. In those days I remember how wild it seemed, even though I could easily walk here from my suburban home. The Ivy Creek Natural Area is more clearly hemmed in by homes and developed areas now, but the turkey scratches we found on the green trail bore witness to the wildness that endures here.

How important it is to ensure that we have Ivy Creek, and places like it, for our children to explore! It is incumbent on my generation to impart on young people an awareness of and appreciation for our environments, both natural and cultural. I applaud the Little Naturalists program and the Young Birder’s Club for the role that they play in engaging young people in our natural world. I am proud of our preserved barn and the docents who explain its significance and the importance of the Carr and Greer families to this land and to Albemarle County. Ivy Creek has a well-designed trail system that provides new and oft-returning visitors with access to all parts of the preserve to foster an understanding of its natural and cultural values. I know the impact that Ivy Creek has had on my life, as I now work for the organization that protected the original 80 acres of the preserve. It continues to have that impact on the lives of young people today. We need to make sure they hear what it has to say.

—“Cricket” Barlow, ICF President

Monticello Bird Club

Thurs., Mar. 10, 7 pm, G a r y N o r m a n , a wildlife biologist with the Va. Division of G a m e a n d I n l a n d Fisheries (DGIF) will speak on upland birds like grouse and turkey.

Thurs . , Apri l 14 , 7 pm, Tom Dierauf will speak on the state of our forests and challenges that l ie ahead.

Thurs., May 12, 7 pm, topic TBA.

Native Plant Walks

Sat., Mar. 19, 9 am, Native Plant Walk — Early Flowers guided by Tim Williams.

Sat., Apr. 16, 9 am, Native Plant Walk— Woodland wildflowers of spring led by Ruth Douglas.

Celebration of N a t u r e i n Music and Art

Sun., April 17, 2 pm

S i n g e r -songwriter Blue O’Connell and members of the Live Poets Society will celebrate the natural world with a unique multi-art blending of music, photography, art and poetry. For all ages in the Education Building.

Volunteers Needed for ICNA Workdays Thursdays —Mar. 10, Apr. 14, May 12, 9 am

Saturdays — Mar. 26, Apr. 23, May 28, 9 am We always need help on field restoration, invasive plant removal, and trail improvements.

A Q U A R T E R L Y N E W S L E T T E R

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Shop the Annual Native Plant Sale

 

On Sun. May 1 at 1:00 pm join the largest crowd of the year at Ivy Creek for the Annual Native Plant Sale sponsored by the Jefferson Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society. Chapter members will have potted over 1,500 native plants with an emphasis on spring favorites: Virginia bluebells, trillium, Mayapple, wild ginger, Dutchman’s breeches, wild geranium, and others. Summer and fall flowering pollinator attractors including milkweed, beebalm, coneflowers, liatris, asters, and goldenrods will also be featured. Uncommon native trees and shrubs will be offered too. A large portion of the profits are donated to Ivy Creek, while other educational and conservation activities are also supported. These very affordably priced plants have sold out quickly. The sale is held inside the barn. In conjunction with the Annual Plant Sale, Ivy Creek will be holding a Yard Sale near the kiosk as well. So check out what the winter and spring cleanings have cleared out from the attic and the barn. The Yard Sale will take place in the Education Building if the weather is wet.

Aaclethra

Ivy Creek Foundation

President: George BarlowVice President: Marilyn SmithSecretary: Diana FosterTreasurer: Phil StokesExecutive Director: Tatyanna PattenEd. Coordinator: Bruce Gatling-AustinNewsletter Editor: Sharon Baiocco

info@ivycreekfoundation.org (434) 973-7772

Coordinator’s Corner

Passionate Communicationby Bruce Gatling-Austin

In some of our educational programs at Ivy Creek, we’ve been utilizing a new “interpretive” approach. The purpose of interpretative instruction is to not merely convey information, but to forge a connection between the person and the Natural Area, its creatures and its stories. Interpretation is a form of passionate communication and as such it is vitally concerned with the audience.

Some educational programs stop after answering the typical question,“What is it?” Interpretation goes beyond names and labels through the use of stories, relationships, contexts, and metaphors. For example, when we lead a plant walk focused on just naming the plants we see, we run the risk of the participants remaining unchanged by the experience, perhaps not remembering or connecting in a personal way to the plants in our natural area.

Instead, I might point out the flowers of the red maples that show themselves every March and point out that their vivid red is the first sign of color after the long grey winter. Even driving in a car at 55 mph, I experience spring because of the reddish hue and the numbers of red maples that grow alongside the road. The red maple’s flowers are like the candles on the birthday cake of spring, a once-a-year celebration. The story/metaphor creates a link to the audience. Perhaps on their way home and for the next several weeks they will notice the red maple flowers and feel in a deeper way the coming of spring.

With interpretation, we look more deeply. Rather than just classifying an object or a creature, we ask, “What does it do? What is its role in the ecosystem, what is its niche?” That kingfisher we just heard: “Is it predator or prey? What was it doing? What does that m e a n ? ” B y a s k i n g t h e audience to ref lect and observe, the interpreter is asking them to forge a link with the kingfisher. The bird then is not just a name on a list, and their experience is much richer.

The interpreter helps the audience to investigate further by asking, “How does it do it?” On beech trees we see these strange white feathery creatures. How are they moving? What are they doing? We will use a magnifying lens (from the interpreter’s pocket) to observe the legs and mouthparts of the wooly aphids. If we spend some time, we may learn more connections, such as how the carnivorous caterpillars of the Harvester butterflies feed on the aphids. How much more exciting it is to discover these facts than to be told them. Passion can emerge from discovery.

Interpreters invite the audience to wonder, “What is its mystery? Why is there red on the wings of cedar waxwings? Why is there a gold band around the top of the green chrysalis of the Monarch butterfly?” When we look deeply, we dip into the mystery of nature and thus become open to its beauty.

Finally, an interpreter asks, “Why does it matter?” When we reflect in this way, we begin to perceive how the object, the plant, the animal matters to our lives, to our children’s lives, to the society or the ecosystem around us.

Through interpretation, we cultivate curiosity, investigation, and appreciation. We are changed by our experience.

I V Y C R E E K F O U N D A T I O N N E W S

Sunday May 1

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I V Y C R E E K F O U N D A T I O N N E W S

Liz Sargent, ICF Board Member and Historical Landscape Architect

Liz Sargent has been a

member of the Board and the Marketing and Communications Committee, now the Development Committee, since 2014. She has her own historical landscape archi tec ture prac t ice , frequently traveling to historic sites and national parks throughout the United States to study their cultural and environmental history, and to develop designs for features that help visitors learn about and experience the history.

Some of the sites where she has worked include Valley Forge National Historical Park, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Mount Vernon Estate a n d G a r d e n s , t h e Wa s h i n g t o n Monument , the Everglades , and Yellowstone National Park. Her clients range from the National Park Service, to the Nat ional Trust for His tor ic Preservation, colleges and universities, and non-profit organizations.

Liz holds undergraduate degrees from Connecticut College in botany and American history, and a master of landscape archi tecture from the University of Virginia.

Liz also serves on the Historic Resources Committee for the City of Charlottesville and the Board of the Rockfish Valley Foundation in Nelson County. She is particularly interested in supporting the work to develop a new park at Arrowhead (the W. D. Woods Natural Area), as well as potential improvements to the Ivy Creek Natural Area entrance and arrival area. Currently, she is working with Steve Thompson and Eugene Ryang on a design for ICNA’s entry way.

Alice Cannon, ICF Board and Education Committee Chair, Artist, Historian

A l i c e Cannon has served on the ICF Board for more than three years and is Chair of the Education Committee, which she describes as “the most fun” because it is full of hard-working, passionate volunteers with many varied research interests. Sixteen years ago, Alice and her husband moved to Bleak House, an 1854 Albemarle County farmhouse between Earlysville and Free Union, once part of a 700-acre plantation.

After receiving a Master’s of Teaching from Goucher College, Alice cared for her family, painted watercolors, and taught art to children and adults locally. Becoming interested in the history of the farm they bought, Alice discovered an inventory of the plantation owner’s estate and found he had owned more than 50 slaves. She soon joined the Central Virginia History Researchers (CVHR). This fascination in the cultural history of Albemarle County led her to the Board of the ICF.

ICF’s Education Committee organizes our “Ivy Talks” programs, and on Feb. 14, Alice joined two descendants of the earlier Reconstruction Era landowners in the area in presenting “Heritage Trails,” an Ivy Talks program.

The Committee is trying to learn more about the history of farming in Albemarle County: “We want to build on the work of Dede Smith and add more of the African-American history of ICNA to our tours, our signage, and our programs.” She notes that River View Farm is the first stop on the “Union Ridge African American Heritage Trail.”

Carol Hogg, ICF Library Committee Chair, Organizing and Cataloging Books for Nature Lovers

If you’ve ever explored the bookshelves in the Education Building, you know that Ivy Creek has a rich supply of books on natural history that have all been donated to our collection. Until last month, they often languished for years without being borrowed by a visitor because the books were only loosely organized and there was no system for lending them.

To the rescue came three women led by Carol Hogg, wife of ICF’s former president Dave Hogg, to restore order and create our ICF lending library. Lorna Werntz and Margie Giuliano

are working with Carol to locate and inspect books, create a catalog, and shelve the books by interest group. On occasion they are also joined by Martha Weiss. After noticing the books, many of which were stored in a closet upstairs, but when Carol noticed that books some friends had donated did not seem to be getting any use, she decided to step up. First she talked to a librarian about how to create a small lending library, and then she set to work.

Our holdings include many books on natural sciences and guidebooks on “everything you can think of at Ivy Creek” — butterflies, mosses, trees, birds. The books will be arranged alphabetically within each major interest category, and there will be a section of children’s books. Kudos to Carol and the Library Committee!

Spotlight on Our Volunteers

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Members of The Blue Ridge Young Birders Club (BRYBC) have a special reason to look forward to the upcoming nesting season as they eagerly anticipate a pair of chimney swifts discovering the newly erected tower that they built at Ivy Creek last summer. While only one pair can potentially utilize the tower for nesting, in the fall the tower will provide a stop-over roost site as thousands of chimney swifts migrate by. Our young citizen scientists will monitor the migration, and results will be reported to “A Swifts’s Night Out,” a continent-wide monitoring program.

“This has been such an exciting project for the young birders, engaging them in every stage of the development from fundraising, to construction, and then monitoring,” writes Mary Mapel, mother of Gabriel Mapel, 16, one of the cofounders of the group. (See Sidebar.) Ms. Mapel says that Ivy Creek is a perfect location for the group, and it was one of her family’s favorite places to hike with Gabriel from his infancy.

The Blue Ridge Young Birders Club was founded in fall 2012 by four eager youths who shared a passion for birds and birding. The club has numerous field trips each month, as well as meetings six times a year providing youths age 7 to 18 an opportunity to share their love of birds, sharpen their ID skills, and participate in citizen science projects that assist in the

conservation of birds. BRYBC membership is open to all children ages 7 and older who demonstrate an ability to bird quietly alongside their peers w i t h o u t d i s t u r b i n g t h e enjoyment of birds by the other members. Youth under the age of 11 must be accompanied by an adult on all field trips and meetings.

The Young Birders meet at Ivy Creek every other month following the first Saturday bird

walk. The next meeting is April 2. The speaker in February was from the Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary, but generally the young people themselves give the presentations. While the club has two adult coordinators who run the behind-the-scenes aspect of the club, like filing for non-profit status, and doing the business paperwork, the youth decide on the presentations, field trips, and projects. The older boys and girls mentor the younger children.

Over the past three years, the club has grown to over 35 members from both the Piedmont and Shenandoah Valley. Each year members monitor two bluebird trails, one at PVCC and one in the Shenandoah Valley. They also participate in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, Rusty Blackbird Blitz, Nightjar survey, host a booth at Kidvention and Earth Day events, and participate in the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch Open House. Visit this website: http://www.blueridgeyoungbirders.org.

Gabriel MapelScholarship Winner, Author,

and Budding Naturalist

Where will the future leaders in wildlife research and conservation come from? From Central Virginia! Sixteen-year-old Gabriel Mapel,

f o u n d i n g president of the Blue Ridge Young Birders Club, authored and published a b o o k o n bears at age 10 that has sold o v e r 7 0 0 0 copies and is

distributed across the national parks. He is a Volunteer Interpretive Ranger i n S h e n a n d o a h N a t i o n a l P a r k spec ia l i z ing in educat ing park visitors about the park’s 300-600 American black bears. He is the youngest person in North America to have qualified as an official counter for the Hawk Migration Association of North America, and he serves on the board of the Monticello Bird Club, leading and coordinating field trips.

The Audubon Society has awarded Gabriel a partial scholarship to attend the Teen Bird Studies camp at Hog Island in Maine this summer, and the Monticello Bird Club and August Bird Club also will assist him as he studies the seabirds of Maine. He went two years ago and fell in love with the Guillemots and Puffins and wants to volunteer for Project Puffin. Dr. Victor Laubach, a UVA medical researcher who often birds with Gabriel writes, “Gabriel’s birding abilities are superb!”

Homeschooled by his parents, Gabriel became fascinated by bears. He wrote the story of Gertrude, an American black bear, and he continues to participate in research on bears in the Shenandoah Park.

George Gaige taught proper use of tools to Manas Ravindran as they construct the inner portion of the chimney swift tower. 

Our Next Generation of Naturalists

I V Y C R E E K F O U N D A T I O N N E W S

The Blue Ridge Young Birders Club Builds a Chimney Swift Tower

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CATS at Ivy CreekF o r s e v e r a l y e a r s t h e Charlot tesvil le Area Tree Stewards have contributed to the ecological health of Ivy Creek Natural Area. In 2008, CATS members conducted an i n v a s i v e r e m o v a l a n d restoration planting project between the Education Building and the barn. The plantings of native trees and shrubs have matured and now form an e x c e p t i o n a l l y a p p e a l i n g hedgerow. Each of the species is labeled for educational value.

CATS members also funded the large display panel exhibited in the newly renovated barn in 2012. Until recently, CATS u s e d t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f Fores t ry ' s o ff ices o ff o f F o n t a i n e Av e . f o r t h e i r "headquarters." Now, they will be using ICNA, beginning with their fall training course.

In September, CATS provided several volunteer coordinators under the direction of Tim Maywalt as part of the United

Way Day of Caring. The coordinators supervised more than 20 indiv iduals who volunteered for the ICNA p r o j e c t , w h i c h e n t a i l e d removing Oriental bittersweet and autumn olive along the edge o f t h e l a r g e f i e l d circumnavigated by the Red Trail. CATS also donated a sourwood tree to the Natural Area (above).

I V Y C R E E K F O U N D A T I O N N E W S

One of the recent additions to Ivy Creek Foundation’s growing list of partner organizations is Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards (CATS). This blossoming volunteer organization, while only seven years old, can already boast several important contributions to our community.

With a mission to support rural and urban forests, increase public awareness of the intrinsic value and beauty of trees, educate the community on trees and tree care, and partner with government and civic groups to improve and restore the tree canopy of the area, CATS is a perfect partner for Ivy Creek Foundation. Current CATS president Roseanne Simon notes, “We feel fortunate to be part of the Ivy Creek Foundation. We will continue our efforts to improve the grounds by planting new trees and helping curb the growth of invasives.”

CATS offers several opportunities for members to promote tree stewardship in our area. Each year, CATS offers training sessions for residents to learn how to select the right tree for the right place; prune and plant; address problems that affect tree growth and health; and identify trees

in the field—with leaves and without. CATS also offers free mini-courses on pruning and planting several times throughout the year.

The organization’s 100+ members regularly tackle hands-on projects in our city and county parks— battling invasive species, maintaining the Rivanna Trail, and providing tree pruning guidance. CATS also sponsors presentations on tree-related topics, and plans field trips for members to locales with notable trees. CATS also maintains a record of the notable trees in our area with impressive photographs and interesting historical information (www.notabletrees.org/tree-list/).

CATS also conducts plant sales twice per year—in the spring in conjunction with the Master Gardeners, and in the fall at the City Market. CATS has applied for grants from organizations like Bama Works to support another initiative—the tree voucher program. For three years this program offered monetary vouchers to residents to offset the cost of purchasing trees. One of the first neighborhoods where the program has been promoted is Fifeville. The organization has also used available funding to plant trees around the Albemarle County Office Building and to start an arboretum at the Department of Forestry off of Fontaine Avenue. CATS is currently focused on planting trees in the median of Route 20 South between the city limits and Route 53 to improve the visual character of this important city entrance corridor. For more information: http://charlottesvilleareatreestewards.org/. The next CATS training classes will be held on Tuesday mornings from Sept. 6 through Nov. 22. For information email CATS at catsclass2016@yahoo.com.

CATS members pose after planting a sourwood tree in the parking island at Ivy Creek.

Featured Ivy Creek Partner Organization We chose CATS for this issue because the group is our newest partner, has recently moved its “headquarters” to ICNA, and will be offering training here in the fall.

Plantings on Rt. 20 S median

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Trenz Pruca4321 First StreetAnytown, State ZIP

Non-Profit OrganizationU.S. Postage Paid

Charlottesville, VAPermit No. 299

Ivy Creek FoundationP.O. Box 956Charlottesville, VA 22902

Change Service Requested

Photo by Sharon Baiocco

Tat’s ChatDirector’s Corner

I am an unabashed Star Trek fan. So when the publications group was talking about a theme for this spring issue, it seemed natural to me that this was all about the Next Generation.

My first two years were spent getting to know this wonderful place and the people who have been involved with it for three decades. Over the last year, I have been primarily engaged in finding people who can help support ICF's programs, operations, and all the great work we do here. Now, we are full of fresh ideas and energy from new our members, from our ICF Board and volunteers, and from new classes and partnerships. We hope you'll celebrate their contributions with us--this newsletter features many of them.

We are Ivy Creek: The Next Generation. Our mission is to explore strange, new (to us) acreage, to seek out natural life to teach to new students, and to boldly plant natives that no man has planted here before. Warm wishes, Tatyanna

Legacy Gifts Last ForeverConsider a future legacy gift of support for the Ivy Creek Foundation. There are many types of legacy gifts that are well worth the time, effort, and costs. Updating your will or living trust is extremely important because it allows you to keep control of your assets and defer your gift until after your lifetime by designating a specific amount to a nonprofit like the Ivy Creek Foundation.

ICF relies on the support of organizations, grants, and individuals like you who recognize the importance of maintaining unique environments like that at Ivy Creek Natural Area for future generations. For information on what we do at the Ivy Creek Foundation, visit our website at www. ivycreekfoundation.org.